The Mission
by Elfie x3
Summary: Gallagher Academy is filled with secrets. 1st is the weird flyer about a competition for a mission, and now rumors are flying that zach is involved. 2nd is when zach starts turning up and cammie decides she must win the competition and Zach. ZAMMIE R
1. 1 Competition

**Disclaimer: All belongs to Ally Carter! (plus looking for a beta for this story PM me or leave a review…) **

1. Competition

CAMMIE POV

Although I'd been at the academy a couple of days prior to official opening, my heart was beating faster than ever when I twisted the doorknob that led to a room filled with my best friends in the whole world. But I expected them to actually greet me with a hug and screams, not this.

And as I opened the door Liz, Macey, and Bex didn't even say hi. They just stared into open space, shocked, and I was afraid. It's hard to surprise a spy.

"Hey, guys," I laughed it off. "Nice to see you, too, after a summer apart. Haven't seen you in four months. No biggie."

"Uh huh," mumbled Liz as she turned around on her bed to reach for a piece of paper and handed it to me, and I've _never_ surprised Liz. Ever.

_Contest for all Gallagher Girls age 14 or older! Please come to the Ballroom at 4 o' clock on Wednesday afternoon for information on:_

_A CHANCE OF A LIFETIME:_

_3 GALLAGHER GIRLS TO EMBARK ON THE MISSION OF A LIFETIME!_

_To compete, one must be physically able to pass Test 8K in Mr. Fibbs' lab and be in the top 20% of all school classes. More information Wed._

I apparently didn't look as shocked as everyone else did, so Bex whispered, "Do you know what this means?"

"Yeah," I told her. "Way too much buildup for one hundred broken hearts. At least a hundred people are going to go for this and only three are going to make it. It isn't even worth the time."

"What do you mean?" asked Liz. "Are you saying we couldn't make it?" Liz and her insecurities.

"No," Bex said abruptly. "And Cammie's kind of right. But it's all we can do to at least try out, guys. _Chance of a lifetime_, remember?"

"Uh huh," Macey sighed, staring at her drying magenta nails. "We're junior year. We're top of the top, guys."

"Well, that's true—" I started.

"Yeah," Macy told us snottily. "It _is_ true. And we're GOING to try out, okay? We ARE. And we're going to make it. We'll be those three girls."

"Whoa, Macey," Liz seemed surprised. "That was totally not like you. Maybe you've changed over the sum—"

"And maybe I haven't. This is a chance of a lifetime—and everyone knows I'm taking little-kid classes. I don't want to be known as the idiot, do I? I'm MAKING this."

"O-kay," Bex looked at the paper. "We're going to do this. We're going to win."

"That's the spirit. I guess. But there's four of us."

"HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME ABOUT THIS?" I screamed at my mom in her office. I never screamed at her, not to say I was the perfect child. I wasn't.

When I thought of our time together, a picture of her sitting behind her desk and me screaming at her just wasn't what came to mind. And her feeling bad.

"Now, Cammie, is this really a big—"

"How? Do you think I could never make it? Do you not want me to try? Is there something you want me to know now before—"

"Cammie. Calm _down_. It's just a silly competition. It wasn't even my idea. I found out today. Okay? Of course I think you can make it and obviously you're going to try, all right? There's nothing you need to know except this: There's more to it than what is on the flyer. 'Kay?" She looked like she was doing something sneakily. There was more to the hint than what was obvious.

Hopefully I knew that. I was supposed to be a first-class spy.

"Okay. Sure." I apologized and left, feeling horrible of accusing her of something like that.

And as I trudged up the stairs to my room I thought about how this whole thing was affecting and twisting my whole school out of recognition. I vowed that I wouldn't let it twist me.

Not that I wasn't going to be one of those three girls. I'd do _anything._

_Anything_ to see Zach, if he was a part of this after all.

**I hope you liked it and PLEASE REVIEW!! Make my day :-)! The button is RIGHT THERE **

**v**


	2. 2 Macy's Inner Genius

**Disclaimer: ALL BELONGS TO ALLY CARTER!! And I hope you like this next chapter b/c it's kind of weird… :D**

2. Macy's Inner Genius

ZACH POV

In the movies, when you see a cold dark room, there is are a couple men at a table with a bright light being shined into the victims' face, but that's what changes. The strong victims—the GOOD spies—keep a straight poker face, and they're the ones who have a pin in the back of their shoe to fool the lie detector tests, an agony that they don't show.

If only I was that good, I could get into Gallagher Academy—but good luck. In the movies, they wince in their brain, but it's almost impossible to wince in your brain and your brain alone when you lie to someone you respect's face. And it's _hard_.

"Zach." Mr. Solomon stares at me. We are in my dorm, and everyone else is outside with the first snow, but not me. "This is _stupid_, and we both know it."

"Gallagher Academy is a _girls-only_ school. And no one's going to fall for it when you tell them it's because of the great curriculum of whatever." Mr. Solomon wasn't like this. Usually he went along with my plans—no matter how stupid they may be—and said nothing about how I did it all just in case….

"And all because you're embarrassed to show up _expected_ by Cammie."

"Do you think if you do this you'll look—oh I don't know—cool? Interesting? Different? Mysterious? Do you think any girl wants to hook up with a guy whose never there?"

"Who said I wanted too…."

"C'mon, man. We all know it already. _Everyone knows except for you and Cammie_."

"That's not true. It's more off-again on-again with us."

"Yeah, I know, and so does everyone else. One of these days Cammie is going to realize she can do so much better than you. She can have a guy who's not afraid to talk to her, to see her, and not constantly keep her in the dark like you. This guy won't be off-again on-again."

"I need your help, and you know it."

"Not only with the getting in, but with the whole getting Cammie thing, too. Good luck."

I looked at my feet so he wouldn't see my blush and fell deeper into our couch and _begged_. "Please."

"Zach, you know I can't say no to my nephew."

MACY POV

_There's more it than what is on the flyer. _If I could figure _this_ hint out, I might have a shot at the competition, at people not looking at me like an unworthy idiot. I could tell Tina, "I heard that."

I took the flier out of my backpack and turned it over, looking at it all over. It was slightly crumpled and screwed up, so finally I had the brilliant idea of going and getting another copy of the flier to compare.

All the words were the same, and so was the font and paper color. It could have been a clone; it even had the same copying screw-up of _embark_ printed twice on the backside of the paper in tiny lettering, so small it would be hard to notice.

_Embark_. That must be it! I tried to think of what it could mean. I was in lower-level classes.

I had no chance at the prize.

I was just another obnoxious rich girl.

Or at least that was what I was thinking when I drifted off to sleep into a fit of nightmares.

_The ship was sinking. Water brushed over every corner—and everyone was there. Cammie was hugging Zach, Liz and Bex were huddled together, and Mr. Solomon was holding onto the mast for dear life. He almost looked afraid as the tiny ship began to sink to the bottom of the never-ending blue. _

The moment I woke up I was in a cold sweat and thought about how stupid it was that the boat was so tiny, yet everyone was there. And as hard as I tried to stay away from the competition, my mind kept falling back down that hole. And it _was_ a hole, because once you were in it was so hard to get out.

And that's when it hit me. _Embark. _The etymology of _embark_ is from _barque_, or small ship. The academy had a small scale model of a ship in the COW classroom.

Maybe I wasn't so stupid after all.

**I hoped you liked it, and the whole barque thing is actually true!! PLEASE REVIEW. It will brighten my Christmas. **

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!! :D**


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